For many people detained in Syria’s prisons and security branches, the darkness of the unknown overpowered the darkness of detention cells. Over nearly 14 years of war arbitrary arrests grew more common, with many people held in custody without trial or investigation.
In the wake of the collapse of the Assad regime, survivors suffer from physical injuries, psychological trauma, and chronic health conditions due to these years of systematic abuse, torture, and neglect. In response to these huge medical and mental health needs, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) launched a program for survivors of ill treatment in Syria.
The fall of the former Syrian government was a turning point for many detainees
“I was taken to solitary confinement while my daughters were locked in another cell. I knew nothing about them," said Suha*, a 50-year-old woman who was detained in 2018 without charge and held for six years. “I didn’t care about the beatings I took, hoping that when the beating stopped, I would find out the fate of my daughters.”
Suha, like hundreds of prisoners and detainees, gained her freedom when the gates of prisons were opened following the fall of the former Syrian government in December 2024. Many people spent years in detention under very harsh conditions, deprived of proper food and sometimes medical care, and exposed to endless cycles of physical and psychological ill treatment, as reported to MSF medical and mental health teams.
“They would offer us ‘food’: a barely cooked soup, some potatoes that started rotting. I was seeing my daughters wither in front of my very eyes,” Suha told MSF. “I am their mother, but I could not take care of them. I could not feed them what would give them energy to handle another day of pain.”
Expanding mental health care into previously inaccessible areas
The program was piloted in MSF’s existing project in Idlib governorate. MSF then opened a dedicated clinic in Damascus, located inside Al-Mujtahid hospital, later introducing the program in Kafr Batna in Eastern Ghouta, where most of our patients come from. Historically an opposition area, this region was besieged and heavily bombarded.
The clinic for survivors of ill treatment program offers general medical consultations with referrals to secondary and tertiary care, psychosocial support, and social work services which link patients to non-medical assistance through local organizations and associations offering support beyond the scope of MSF’s services.
“The mental health ramifications of detainment in Syria are quite alarming,” said Laura Guardiola, MSF project medical referent in Damascus. “Being detained under unimaginable conditions of ill treatment that amount to physical and psychological torture has left deep and lasting wounds on former detainees and prisoners, wounds that require time, support, and care to begin healing.”
“During the years of my detainment, I was promised that I would be released many times, but they took me back every time,” said Suha. “As soon as a security branch was done with me, another took over. I would start the whole process of pain all over again, between bloody investigations, severe beatings, and psychological torture. I saw the sun briefly. I never saw the sky except through barbed wire.”
Outreach is needed to help the most vulnerable patients
MSF is also working on reaching more women as the very low number of female patients in our cohort is worrying, and even fewer children are seeking treatment. Less than 15 percent of consultations were for female patients in the first two months of the clinic’s activities in Damascus. Several female former detainees survived sexual violence during detention, which might prevent them from seeking support, mainly due to stigma.
While people emerged from the prisons into what might seem like a new reality, they are still living in the same country. They are constantly reminded of their horrific experiences in their daily lives, which makes reintegrating into society very challenging.
Suha is one of 113 patients in the survivors of ill treatment program MSF runs through the clinic, and although there will be a long road ahead, she is beginning her healing journey one step at a time.
Since being freed, Suha has opened a small business selling dresses in her neighborhood, and is helping her daughters move on with their lives while trying to restart hers as well.
*Name has been changed
